Chapter One
"So . . . Willow."
"So . . . Buffy."
"So . . . how's the spell coming?"
"So . . . it's going fine. If you like big, fat goose eggs."
"So, it's not going so well, huh?"
"It's not going at all. I just can't make it work. I tried translating it into Latin, into the ancient Greek, and even the Sumerian that Giles knows and nothing. The spell was written in, and for, the proto-Sumerian. And that's the language it has to be recited in."
"Then do you think you could just write one?"
"I tried that, too. And I even tried basing it on the one we have, but I guess I'm just not powerful enough. Or I just don't know the proper wording, or the proper rhythm. Whichever it is, no luck."
"Do you think Anya might be able to help, somehow?"
"Who knows? Maybe if she could get Halfrek to do something, but I wouldn't count on it. She doesn't strike me as the kind of demon who would care one way or the other. And I don't know if I'd trust her anyway."
"Yeah, I see your point."
"But if you have any other ideas, feel free to chime in."
"You know, I've been thinking about the conversation I had with Xena and Ares about this god business. I told him that no one worshipped him, or the other gods, anymore since the one-god concept took hold. Of course, he wanted to know why, and Xena said something to the effect that with no followers there can be no gods."
"Like they got their power from the people?"
"Exactly. And as the numbers of their followers shrank, their powers gradually faded away until eventually the gods themselves faded away died or evaporated, whatever."
"Makes sense."
"But what if down through the years a few of them still hung onto a small number of worshippers, just enough of them to give them enough power to perform an occasional 'miracle' to keep the believers happy?"
"That's possible, I suppose."
"So, I figure it would take an important god, or a powerful one, to keep going for, say, a couple thousand years. Like, umm, a god of war."
"I can see that happening. I assume you're talking about Ares. But if that's the case, since there always have been wars, then why haven't we been hearing about him all along?"
"Well, many wars, maybe most of them, have been religious wars, right?"
"Right."
"But almost all the religions are one-god religions, and Ares is was, part of a collection of gods."
"Well, all of this is very interesting. Is there a point in there somewhere?"
"I'm just wondering if there is someway to contact one of these mostly neglected gods of days gone by."
"I'm sure I don't know. If anyone would, it would be someone like Spike, or maybe Clem. But I wouldn't put a lot of hope in either one."
"I was thinking more like Anya, again. For as long as she was a demon, if there was such a thing, surely she must have heard about it."
"I guess. Of course, after us pestering her so much about D'Hoffryn, she might not be particularly anxious to get involved."
"It couldn't hurt to ask. Maybe if we invited her and Xander to eat dinner with us, she might be more receptive."
..
"Well, this was all very good, I suppose. Never had pineapple pot roast before, but it never hurts to try new things, sometimes, if you like that sort of thing. So, how about if you just cut to the chase?"
"Anya, you're always so suspicious. Why would you think we would have an ulterior motive?"
"Just call it the remnant-intuition of a thousand-year old ex-vengeance demon."
"Then it looks like your intuition has failed you."
"Great! Well Xander, I guess we can go, then."
"Well, there was ONE little thing we were wondering about."
"Does it have anything to do with D'Hoffryn? Then forget it. You people seem to be obsessed with him."
"No! Nothing to do with him at all. Absolutely not at all."
"We could stay for dessert," Xander suggested. "I thought I smelled carrot cake."
"All right, Buffy, what is it you want to know?"
"Back when I was talking to Ares and Xena about all the gods they had then that we don't worship now, Xena said that with no worshippers, those gods just disappeared. And we, Willow and I, were wondering if maybe some of them still might be around, hanging on with just a few people giving them just enough power to do a miracle or two to keep going."
"Are you kidding? There are so many of them in the underworld, they're like the homeless people in L.A. You wouldn't believe how competitive they are, trying to siphon off worshippers from other ex-gods."
"You wouldn't know who they are, would you? You know, any names?"
"Have you got a couple of hours, because I don't. I wouldn't even try."
"But if you wanted to find a particular one, how would you do it?"
"I don't know, go down there and ask around, I suppose."
"Would you know how to get down there?"
"Sure, if I had my powers, it'd be a snap. I could be there in a heart beat, if I really had to go, and wanted to."
"Could you tell Willow how to?"
"You don't want to go down there. Trust me on this. You DO NOT want to go."
"Actually, I really do. I want to see if I can find Ares. I figure with all the wars going on everywhere, surely HE would be there."
"She wants to go back to find Xena again," Dawn said. "I don't know why, but she does."
"Because I didn't like the way things started out between us. And the way they ended."
"What do you care? She's been dead two thousand years."
"She wasn't dead when I was there."
Anya shook her head sadly.
"Okay. Willow, there are a few things you're going to need. You'll have to cast a spell since your powers arent strong enough to just pop on down there. Come by the shop tomorrow about eleven and I'll have the stuff you'll need. And bring lots of money. This will be a cash only transaction."
"Plastic's no good?"
"Not in this case. We can't let Giles know what you're planning to do. I can't cover the missing items if there is a single record of them being sold."
"But how can you can hide them with cash?"
"I'll have to make it look like they were sold one at a time, over a couple of weeks. The inventory has to be right. And believe me, Giles knows what we have, what they can do, and which ones he WON'T let us sell together."
"How much money are we talking about?"
"A couple of hundred dollars, at least."
"Willow will be there, with the cash," Buffy told her.
"Instructions would be nice, too," Willow added.
"Don't worry about that. I'll have to be here when you do the spell."
"Are you coming with us?"
"Not even! You'll be on your own, and hopefully, the spell will afford you some protection."
"From what?"
"From some not-so-friendly gods wanting to using your link to this world to get here, stranding you there. But we'll go over all that. Now, before Xander goes into a sugar fit, how about that cake?"
Chapter Two
"Will this be enough sand?"
"It should. The circle only has to be large enough for the three of you."
"Anya, you can still change your mind."
"Not hardly. Now, be sure all three of you are holding the totem when I recite the spell, that way any of you can break it and all of you will be returned here. Otherwise one or two of you could be stranded."
"How is this going to work?" Buffy asked.
"You three will stand inside the sacred circle of sand and I'll say the spell. To us you will just disappear. But to you, the circle will fill with smoke, and when it clears, you'll be in the demon underworld."
"What will it be like?'
"Dark, smelly, oppressive, hot and dry, unless it's hot and humid. Just like most demon dimension worlds. If you've seen one you've pretty much seen them all."
Willow and Tara began pouring the sand into a circle large enough for the three of them to stand in without being crowded. Even before it was finished, Buffy noticed the sand was beginning to brighten, almost glowing. She hurriedly stepped into the circle with Tara and Willow.
"Should they take any food or water?" Dawn asked.
"Hard to say," Anya answered. "Sometimes food and drinks come through okay and sometimes they turn poisonous. But they shouldn't be there that long. Of course the time flows differently within each dimension."
"Meaning what?" Buffy asked.
"Meaning that to you a few hours could mean a few seconds to us, or a few years. You just never know."
"So if they don't come back for a while, it's okay?" Dawn asked.
"Should be," Anya answered.
"But how will we know how long to wait? What if it's years before they come back?"
"That's just the chance we'll have to take."
"You mean the chance WE'LL have to take," Buffy said. "WE'RE the ones who'll be in the demon dimension."
"You're the one who wants to go there
."
"Hey, guys," Willow interjected, "I don't think now is the best time for this discussion. We're uneasy about it as it is. How about a little encouragement?"
"Go short-time demon-dimension visit," Anya said sarcastically.
"It'll be okay," Xander said. "I can feel it in my bones. Everything's going to turn out all right. You'll see."
Buffy, Willow, and Tara stood inside the circle of sand while Anya began chanting, each holding onto a part of the totem, which looked to Buffy like a straw doll wrapped with cloth to form the torso, arms and legs. And as Anya had promised, smoke or mist or fog began to fill the area around them. At the same time, Anya's voice got softer and softer until it looked like she was only mouthing the words. Eventually nothing could be seen either outside or inside the circle. Buffy spoke to Willow but her voice was swallowed up by the fog.
Gradually, the mist faded away and the three of them found themselves standing on a barren plain.
It wasn't particularly hot, nor especially cold, but there were frequent winds coming from all directions, buffeting them, sometimes blowing hot, moist air and sometimes cold and dry. There was no sun, yet there was enough light for it to be midday. Clouds would form and then vanish in the space of a few minutes. Sometimes there would be rain from the clouds until they vanished.
"What was that saying? Something about if you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes?" Willow asked facetiously.
"I think I'm more concerned about where we are, and where we should go," Buffy answered.
"It's too bad we didn't think to bring binoculars," Tara said. "I think I see something, way over there."
The other two looked in the direction she was pointing. It appeared to be a mountain chain, unless it was a city, or a forest.
"Well, I guess we know where we're going," Buffy said. "I wonder just how far it is, and how long it's going to takes us."
Without another word Buffy headed in the direction of whatever it was off in the distance, with Willow and Tara following.
"Maybe we should have gotten more information from Anya before we did this," Tara said.
"You think?" Buffy answered. "It's too late now."
"We can always break the totem. That'll take us back home," Willow suggested.
"We're here now. We might as well stay awhile and look around. Maybe something will turn up."
After several minutes, Tara spoke up again.
"Has anyone noticed how quickly we're getting to that thing? I thought we'd be walking for a couple of hours, but it looks like we'll be there in another fifteen minutes or so."
"I did notice that, but I thought it was just me," Buffy answered.
"Maybe we're giants in this world and our steps are like -- yards apart," Willow said.
"Or this is a tiny world and it doesn't take very long to get anywhere."
"Does that remind you of anything?" Willow asked as the approached the building.
"A church?" Buffy guessed.
"Or more likely a temple. If this is world of old gods, then I would think it would be where they are worshipped," Tara said.
"By who? There doesn't seem to be anyone anywhere."
"Then maybe it's the home of a god. I would imagine they would want it to look impressive," Tara proposed.
"Maybe at one time. But there doesn't seem to be anyone home."
Buffy approached the massive fifteen-foot-tall double doors at the front of it and gently pushed on one of them. But instead of swinging open, it fell inward with a loud crash, filling the interior with dust and bits of wood as the door disintegrated on impact.
"Nope, don't think anyone's here," Buffy repeated.
"Not for a while," Willow added.
As they waited for the dust to be blown away by the erratic winds, they noticed that ninety percent of the roof was gone, and there were twin stone stairs on either side of the empty temple leading up to massive windows.
"You know," Buffy said. "If someone went up there, they might be able to see if there were more of these anywhere around."
"They certainly might," Willow agreed.
"Of course, whoever goes up should be the one who weighs the least," Tara mentioned. "We don't know just how sturdy, or unstable, the stairs are."
"Which conveniently leaves you out," Buffy replied.
"I think she looks fine," Willow said, defending Tara's size.
"Okay, I guess I'll go up. It was my suggestion anyway," Buffy conceded.
Taking a cautious first few steps, Buffy said, "They seem okay."
The farther up she climbed, the more confident she felt.
Arriving at the top, Buffy looked out of the window, then yelled down to the others, thirty feet below, "I can't see any real detail, but it looks like there are at least a dozen of these temples scattered around, maybe more. And a few of them are pretty well lit up, like a spotlight is shining down on them."
Carefully descending the stairs, Buffy made her way back down to the bottom.
And leaving the long deserted and crumbling temple, the three of them proceeded in the general direction Buffy said looked the most promising -- toward the closest of the lit up temples.
Chapter Three
Just as it had been when they headed toward the first temple, the walk to the second, which should have taken them hours, only took a half hour. As they got closer, the wind blew steady and cold. The sky became a light gray color, and what seemed to be a very pale sun was low in the sky.
"Is that snow? Or Ice?" Buffy asked as they got close enough to see some details.
"I wouldn't be surprised, as cold as it is," Willow answered. "Do we really want to get any closer? I'm freezing."
"I does feel like it's getting colder the closer we get," Tara observed. "Maybe some kind of ice god lives here."
"Well, maybe. But you're right, this is no place for us. Let's move on."
Backtracking until they were away from the cold, they circled around the ice temple and marched on past two more obviously abandoned temples.
They cautiously approached the next one with light coming from it. The temperature was warmer, the humidity steadily climbed, and a bright sun was directly overhead, making it feel even hotter than they liked. When they were less than fifty feet from the temple, which looked more pyramid shaped, they were suddenly attacked by a horde of hungry mosquitoes. They lost no time in running away from them.
"What was THAT?" Tara asked. "Home of a swamp god?"
"Well, this is getting us nowhere!" Willow complained. "There's GOT to be some way to find him, or find his temple or castle or whatever!"
"Well," Buffy began. "Maybe there is ONE thing we can try."
"What?"
"I remember Gabrielle telling me that whenever Xena wanted Ares she would just yell out he name and he would appear."
"Just by calling his name?"
"That's what she said. Of course, she also said he had a thing for her and he probably had an ear listening for her."
"So, we should just start yelling out his name?"
"Why not? It couldn't hurt, and who knows? If he is still alive here somewhere, and if he can hear us yelling, maybe he'll appear."
After a few seconds, they all started yelling out Ares' name, sometimes in unison, sometimes not.
After a couple of minutes, they stopped.
"I don't think this is working," Tara said.
But just as she got the words out of her mouth, the three of them found themselves inside a large room, the walls covered with shields, swords, and battle axes. Looking around, they saw an old, bearded man sitting, slouching, immobile, on a thrown.
Unless it was a statue, or a dead body.
Buffy approached slowly, trying to decide which it was.
"Hey," she said.
Slowly the eyes opened and the man took a deep breath.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
He nodded and sat up straighter.
Then he seemed to wake up fully.
"I'm fine," he croaked. "Bringing you three here took a bit out of me, but now that you're here, I'm getting stronger."
"Are you Ares?"
"I certainly am."
"What happened to you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You got OLD."
"So?"
"But you're a god. The last time I saw you, you were young and strong and -- full of life. Now you're not."
"When did you see me? Who are you?"
"I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. Don't you remember? Xena and I were fighting to the death, in that Amazon village."
"Xena? I haven't heard that name in, well centuries. You say you two were fighting?"
"Yeah. And we met even before then. Don't you remember, I was from the future? And I asked you to send me back? And according to Gabrielle's scroll, you finally did."
"Gabrielle
?"
Suddenly a light seemed to go off in his head.
"I DO remember! Gabrielle called me. She said you two were cursed and were fighting."
"Exactly!"
"I hit both of you with energy balls, then had Aesclepius heal Xena. You two were in really bad shape!"
"So why didn't you heal ME?" Suddenly Buffy angry.
"Probably because I didn't really care about you. The only reason I sent you back was because Gabrielle promised me Xena would honor the debt. Besides, I knew your special healing powers would heal you."
"Why did you get old?" Tara asked, trying to defuse the situation.
"Because over the years, as my powers declined, my ability to stay young did also."
"So Xena WAS right!" Buffy said. "No followers, no powers."
"Unfortunately."
"So, what is this world?" Willow asked. "Why are there so many empty buildings, temples, whatever you want to call them. I thought you gods lived up on Mount Olympus?"
Ares looked at Willow.
"How is it you three are even here? This isn't a world for mortals."
"So what IS it?" Buffy asked.
Ares was silent for a few moments, then said, "This is a world for dying gods and goddesses. It's a refuge. That one-god belief really took its toll on us. Our followers left us, and left us with almost no power. Our temples and shrines were disappearing along with our influences. So as a last resort, while our abilities were still with us, we transported everything here."
"But why here?"
"To get away from the new religions, which weakened us. And since the time here is similar to that in your world, the few remaining worshippers we do have can give us strength and we can draw power from them."
"We saw a lot of deserted and falling down buildings. I guess those are the ones who have finally died?"
"More and more of them all the time."
"What about the ice castle?" Willow asked.
"And the swamp one?" Tara added.
"Ah, yes. Two of the stronger beliefs. The one with all the ice belongs to Thor, one of the Norse gods. Apparently he still has quite a few believers. I don't know why."
"He's a favorite." Buffy said. "He's been romanticized in books and movies, and people seem to like him."
"Great. Why couldn't I be so lucky?"
"And the swamp and mosquito pyramid?"
"He is probably the strongest god here. He's worshipped by the people living in the jungles of the southern continent of your new world. I'm surprised he's even here."
"What's wrong with the weather?" Willow asked. "It's so crazy."
"That's what happens when a god dies. You see, when we arrive here with our temples, or The Great Hall of War, in my case, we also bring the weather we're used to. But for some reason, when a god finally fades away, the weather doesn't. And with no god to control it, it just goes about it's merry way. So with more and more different weather conditions set free, it's just chaos."
Chapter Four
"You know, there was something else I was wondering about," Buffy started to say.
"No!" Ares said loudly. "You people come in here, into MY home, and ask all your questions like I'm some kind of Information God? Well it stops. NOW!"
He stood up from his throne. The change was evident.
When they first saw Ares sitting immobile on his thrown, he was slouched and bowed, almost decrepit. There was a grayness about him his hair, his full beard. Even his clothes, which Buffy remembered as shiny black leather, were dull and colorless. But now he was getting stronger. There were three people who believed he was really a real god, and their nearness was giving him strength he hadn't felt in centuries. His hair was darker, and his beard wasn't quite so full, and it, too, had darkened.
But he wasn't there, not yet.
As he walked toward them, they backed away, their slight fear feeding his ego, making him even stronger.
He stopped in front of them.
"Now, you're going to answer MY questions," he told them. "How did you three get here? And why?"
"We came looking for you?" Willow said timidly.
"Why?"
"Because," Buffy answered, "After everything that happened between Xena and me, you know the fight and all, I was hoping you might send me back so I can try to, I don't know, start fresh with her."
Ares looked down at her, perplexed.
"And why would I do that?"
"The goodness of your heart?" she replied.
Ares suddenly laughed loud and long. He couldn't remember the last time he had done that. It felt good.
Taking it as a positive sign, the three women laughed along with him.
As his laughter died away, he looked at the three of them, studying them.
"How did you say you got here?"
"I don't think we did," Buffy told him. "It was magic. These two are witches, abnormally and extraordinarily powerful witches. And with the help of a former vengeance demon, we were able to pass through the dimensional barriers to this world."
Buffy figured it couldn't hurt to embellish Willow and Tara's powers some, just in case.
"And you want me to send you back to Xena? Just like that?"
"Well, yeah."
"And just how were you planning on coming back? Me, again?"
"Well, sure. You know. If you didn't mind."
After a few moments Ares said, "Unfortunately, even if I wanted to, right now my powers are still somewhat limited. You three have helped me regain some of them, but it's not enough. I'll need more."
"Any suggestions?"
"Maybe if I went back with you, and maybe if you could get enough of your friends gathered together. And if they got their friends, and so on, then maybe I could regain enough strength to help you."
"You'd do that?" Tara asked suspiciously. "You'd help Buffy? Period?"
"What are saying?" Ares asked. "You sound like you don't trust me."
"Well, after all, you ARE a god of war. And if there's one thing we have plenty of, it's war. How do we know that once you get back to our world and we help you regain your powers you won't just forget about helping her and start recruiting more followers and doing god-knows-what?"
"Just because I was born and lived as a war god doesn't mean I don't have a code of honor. You can trust me."
Tara nodded, still not convinced.
"I was watching an episode of M*A*S*H one time," she continued. "And one of them, I think it was Hawkeye, said something like, 'In war, the first causality is truth.' "
"Well, I don't know what else I can say to convince you. You either believe me or you don't."
He turned to Buffy.
"If you want my help, you'll have to go on faith. Otherwise, see you later."
"Do you mind if we have a little conference?" Buffy asked.
"Be my guest."
Buffy led Willow and Tara as far from Ares as they could get.
"So, guys, what do you think? Can we trust him?"
"I don't," Tara said bluntly.
"Willow?"
"I don't know, Buffy. I'm kind of with Tara on this. We don't know what will happen once he gets his powers back. Maybe he WILL help you, but then what? You think he's going to just come back here and fade away?"
"Well, I was thinking, hoping, that maybe if he does send me back to Xena, it might drain him enough that he won't be able to do bad things."
"Then how will you get back?"
"Still working on that part."
As the three of them conferred, Ares was waiting patiently, knowing they were totally unaware of his godly hearing abilities. He smiled inside, careful to not let them know he knew what they were planning.
"And besides," Buffy went on. "Willow, you're no slouch when it comes to power. As weak as he should be, you shouldn't have any trouble controlling him."
"Well, that's the key word 'should'. I think maybe 'hope' is a better one, but if you really want to take the chance, then I'm with you, but with reservations up the yazoo."
"Tara? How about it. I'd like a consensus here."
Tara took a deep, troubled breath.
"Maybe -- maybe together, Willow and I can control him. I don't like this. It actually scares me. But I know how powerful Willow is, so maybe. Okay. Why the hell not? I'm with you."
Buffy touched Tara's arm with gratitude.
"Thanks. I think it'll be all right."
They walked back to Ares, who was polishing a very, very wicked looking sword he had pulled from the scabbard hanging from his belt.
"Well?" he asked. "Do we go, or do I stay?"
"We go."
"And how will we do that? I'm still not powerful enough to return on my own. I just hope I'll have enough of my abilities to help you after we get there."
"Well, we have this totem. Show him Willow."
Willow brought out the straw-doll totem.
"All we have to do is break it apart and we'll return. I was hoping that you could hitch a ride on our coattails, somehow."
"I might. But since your two friends have power, and I have some, then if I hold their hands, I should be dragged along."
"Anything you need to bring with you?"
"Only this," Ares replied as he replaced the sword. "Only this."
With trepidation, Willow and Tara put out their hands to Ares. As he took theirs, they felt a hot-cold tingling. Tara took a breath at the power she felt, but before she could say anything, Buffy broke the totem in half, and they were instantly standing in Buffy's empty dining room.
"Hey!" Buffy yelled out. "Anybody home!"
They heard footsteps running toward them.
Dawn ran in first, followed by Anya and Xander. And Dawn exclaimed excitedly, "You're ba Oh - My - God!"
Chapter Five
"Hey! Who's the grandpa?" Xander asked with a smirk.
"GRANDPA?! I'LL show you grandpa!" Ares replied as he pulled his sword from its scabbard.
Buffy stepped between them, trying to push the sword's tip to the floor.
"There will be no stabbing or slashing of anyone. You need LIVE believers, not dead ones, remember?"
Ares continued to give Xander a steely glare, but slowly put the sword away.
"If you're really a god," Dawn said, "then shouldn't you be like fifty feet tall, or something?"
"And how would I fit into this tiny little house?" he replied.
"Oh. Yeah. Good point."
"I thought Mars was the god of war." Xander pushed on. "We even named a planet after him."
Ares looked back at Xander, deciding he did not like him, at all.
"I'm both," he said. "Different countries, different languages, same gods."
"So your saying you can be in two places at the same time? That's impossible."
Ares looked at Xander dumbfounded, and shook his head.
"You DO understand the concept of a GOD, don't you? I can be anywhere I choose to be, anytime I want."
"Hi, I'm Anya," Anya said as she stepped forward, her hand out.
"VERY pleased to meet you," Ares said smarmily, as he took her hand, bowed, then gently brushed the back of it with his lips, his eyes cutting to Xander, and smiling at the jealous look on his face.
Then he straighten up, looking younger than he did only five minutes ago.
"So, I guess the first order of business is to get all your friends here, and all their friends, so we can get some worshipping going on."
"Actually, these are pretty much it. The few other friends we have, or had, are kind of scattered," Buffy told him.
"What? You said if I'd help you, you'd get
."
"And I did. These are them, mostly."
"Then you're going to have to find more! I need thousands of worshippers, not a paltry handful!"
"I could go get Janice," Dawn volunteered, "Im sure she'd like to meet a real god."
"Maybe that's not such a good idea," Buffy told her. "She'd probably freak out. You know how skittish she is about stuff."
"Well, someone's going to have to go get some bodies here, and plenty of them, or the deal's off."
"Maybe we could post some flyers around the neighborhood," Anya suggested. "And get a big tent. You know, like they do for those revival meetings they have sometimes?"
"And what would we put on it?" Buffy asked. " 'Come one, come all. Meet Ares, YOUR God of War!'? "
"Why not?" Ares asked. "That sounds good to me."
"We could try," Willow said. "You never know."
"Do any of you have any idea how much one of those tents cost? Even to rent one? And the rent on the land? And the permits? And the cost of even one of those Port-A-Potties? Guys, we don't have that kind of money to do that even if we wanted to."
"So we'll have it here." Ares declared. "And after we get enough offerings, we can rent all those things you said."
"I think there's something else we have to consider," Tara said after listening to all the arguments. "If we start advertising that we have a god of war, a GOD of war, do you have any idea how the local churches are going to react? They're not going to like it very much. They could get an injunction against us. The cops could show up. There's no telling WHAT could come of it! Do we, do YOU, Buffy, really want that kind of publicity?"
"She has a point," Buffy agreed. "I didn't even think about that!"
"Well, someone is going to have to come up with a plan, or else
."
"So, you can go anywhere you want?" Dawn asked.
"What? Yes! That's what I said."
"What about the moon?"
"The moon?"
"Yeah. The moon. Can you teleport, or whatever you do?"
"I suppose I could."
"You know it's about a quarter of a million miles away, and it has no air."
"So?"
"So could you survive there? With no air?"
"Are all of you brain damaged? Does NO ONE know the definition of a god?"
"Well, you've admitted your powers aren't exactly up to snuff," Buffy answered. "I think it's a fair question."
"All right, I do admit that right now I am having a bit of a power crisis. But when I was in my prime I could go anywhere I wanted including the moon!"
"What about the sun? It's millions of degrees hot. Could you go there and live?" Dawn asked.
"I get it," Ares said. "You people think that if you question my abilities long enough I'll do what you want without YOU fulfilling your promise of thousands of worshippers just to prove you wrong."
"I don't think anyone said anything about thousands." Buffy interrupted.
"No. Don't apologize. You want to see my powers, then see them you shall."
Ares took a breath then turned to Buffy.
"I have to admit that sending you back to see Xena is a bit more than I can actually manage right now. But since time flows forward, I CAN bring Xena here."
"Well, I guess that would work. But if she comes here, she'll have to speak English, otherwise you'll have to translate everything."
"That's not a problem."
"And it would be nice if you can get her after our little set-to, so she'll know why she's here."
"I can do that too."
"Then let's see you do your stuff."
Ares closed his eyes, searching back through the centuries to that one point in space and time he was looking for.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
"I know I said a little peace and quiet would be nice after that mess we went through with Buffy and Alara," Xena said to Gabrielle as they began to break camp. "but I'm about ready for some action."
"Well, it has been a month, and I admit I'm kind of with you on this one. I could use a little excitement myself."
Gabrielle handed Xena the blankets she had just rolled up, and a heartbeat later, Xena disappeared.
"Xena?" Gabrielle said with alarm. "Xena! Where are you?"
There was no answer, and Gabrielle began to yell frantically for her.
"Xena! XENA!! XENAAAAA!!!"
Chapter Six
Xena took the blankets from Gabrielle to tie them on behind her saddle, and the next thing she knew she was looking at the faces of strangers. She dropped the blankets and went for her sword.
"Xena!" Buffy said, 'It's me!"
Xena turned to look at her, then she spotted another familiar face, but an older one she barely recognized.
"Ares? Is that you?"
"In the flesh, so to speak."
Xena looked back at Buffy.
"What in Tartarus is going on? Where and I? And where is Gabrielle?"
"You're here -- in my house, and in my time. Ares brought you here, at my request."
"Why?"
"Because after everything that happened between us, I was hoping you and I could start over. I'd like for us to be friends."
Xena looked back at Ares, then back at Buffy, not sure what to say.
"I'd like you to meet some of my closest friends," Buffy said. "This is Xander and Anya, and Willow and Tara. And this is my sister, Dawn."
Xena all but ignored the introductions.
"When are you going to bring Gabrielle here?" she asked Ares.
"Buffy didn't say anything about her."
"Does she know what happened? Where I am?"
"Probably not."
"So she's just waiting back there for me, hoping I'll come back, with no idea of what's going on?"
"That's about it."
"Then either you're going to have to bring her here, or send me back."
"Can't do either. I used up most of my powers getting you here. I'll need a lot more believers than what's in this room to get that much power."
Xena grabbed Ares by the shirt.
"You'll do it or I'LL do something, and I guarantee you won't like it."
"Like what? I'm still immortal, even without my full powers.
Xena pushed him away from her, then grabbed her Chakram from its hook.
"I've never fought you with this, but I have a feeling it can do a LOT more damage than any sword."
Ares took a worried breath, then said, "There may be something I can do."
"I thought so."
"Like I told Buffy, it's easier to bring someone to the future since time flows this way. And I'm pretty sure I can bring Gabrielle here, but I'd have to borrow some power to do it."
"Borrow some power?" Buffy asked. "Borrow from who?"
Ares pointed to Willow and Tara.
"From those two. With the two of them, and what I still have, I'd be strong enough to bring Gabrielle here."
Tara was shaking her head and backing away.
"Tara, what's wrong?" Willow asked her.
"I don't like it. Borrowing
lending magical powers just isn't done. It's it's like lending out part of your soul."
"So you're saying you don't trust me?" Ares asked.
Tara wouldn't meet his eye, but just shook her head.
"Maybe it would work with just me," Willow suggested. "I'm pretty powerful on my own."
"NO! Willow, don't you understand? When you borrow something, it's yours until you decide to give it back. How do we know he won't keep it for himself?"
"Do you really think I want witches' powers?" Ares asked with contempt in his voice. "I have more self-respect that THAT! The only reason I even suggested it was because I know how close Xena and Gabrielle are. And if I don't, then I'd end up having to have to fight Xena and we'd probably destroy the house in the process."
"How about it, Tara, is it?" Xena said to her. "Ares may be a lot of things, but I've never known him to tell a direct lie."
"And it'll only be for a few seconds," Ares added. "Just long enough to locate Gabrielle and bring her here."
Tara still had a stubborn look on her face, but she began to give in under the pressure.
"Okay. I know when I'm outnumbered. I just hope everyone understands what can happen."
She looked at Willow with despair in her eyes. Willow took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
"So what do we do?" Tara asked.
"We hold hands," Ares explained. "You let down your mental defenses and I'll combine your powers with mine. Then I'll search for Gabrielle right about the time Xena left. I'll bring her here, and it'll all be over with."
With much reluctance, Tara took Ares' hand, as did Willow. She slowly let down her guard, to keep him from coming in too quickly, in case she didn't like the way things "felt." But just as soon as she began to relax, she felt his mind burst into her consciousness and take it over before she had a chance to resist. She felt his mind dragging hers, and Willow's, back through the years to the exact moment he wanted, with no hesitation or searching.
Gabrielle had just taken off Argo's saddle and bridle, hoping maybe Xena's horse could somehow find her. She was at a complete loss of what else to do. And then suddenly she was facing Xena. And without hesitating, she threw her arms around her soul mate, completely oblivious of anything or anyone else around her.
Chapter Seven
After the hug, Gabrielle backed away from Xena, now aware of the strange place and strange people around them.
"Xena, what's going on?"
"Hey," Buffy said from behind Gabrielle, "Remember me?"
Gabrielle turned around and a big smile appeared.
"Buffy! Oh, I'm so glad you're all right!"
And she hugged Buffy as well.
"So, I guess this is your house?" Gabrielle asked.
"Yes it is. And these are my friends."
Once again introductions were made, and Gabrielle was more accepting of them than Xena was.
"It was Willow, here, who did the spell that sent me back. Of course we didn't know that it had been changed so I appeared naked."
Gabrielle laughed. "I can see how that could be a problem."
Now that she and Xena were back together and she knew things were okay, Gabrielle was in a good mood.
"So why are we here?" she asked.
"Well, like I was telling Xena, after the problems she and I had when I first got there, and after that horrible fight we had no control over, I just wanted the chance to start over. Maybe be friends."
Gabrielle looked toward Willow. "So you did another spell?"
"No, she didn't," Xena cut in. "They had Ares, of all people, bring us here. Using what power he had and taking magic from them."
"So, where is he?"
"That's a good question. Buffy?"
"I don't know. In all the excitement, I forgot all about him."
"He's gone," Tara told them. "And he still has our powers! I knew this would happen. I just knew it! But no one wanted to listen Tara. 'What does SHE know?' "
"You're right," Willow said, trying to consol her. "We should have listened to you."
"Willow, didn't you feel it, when Ares came back with us?"
"Feel what?"
"His power! He wasn't as helpless as he said he was. He might not have had enough to send Xena back home, but he sure had enough to bring Gabrielle here. He used us. And now he's using our magic for god-knows-what!"
"And YOU!" Tara turned to Xena. "You insisted he do something, anything! And now he's loose in this world! Just what we need another force of evil. Someone else to cause even more death and destruction of innocent lives!"
"Then we'll just have to find him and take his powers away from him," Xena shot back.
"How do you propose we do that?" Buffy asked, feeling guilty herself for starting this in the first place.
"More magic. More powerful magic."
"From where?" Willow asked. "Certainly not from us. Not anytime soon, anyway."
"Anytime soon?" Buffy asked. "You mean they'll come back?"
"Eventually. You remember when I was all dark and veiny and how I kept burning out? My powers regenerated after a while. And they will again, both of ours. I mean, we're STILL witches. It's just going to take time."
"How much time?"
"Certainly not days. Weeks, maybe a month, or two."
"And in the meantime, Ares is doing what he does best creating havoc, conflict, and more war," Xena told them, not trying to hide the anger in her voice.
"Can't you find some more magic somewhere else?" Dawn asked.
Yeah," Anya added. "Like you did when you sucked all my books dry?"
"If there is someplace, I don't know where it would be."
"Any books left?" Dawn asked cautiously.
"None with the power she'll need," Anya answered.
No one spoke for more than a few seconds.
"Well," Buffy finally said. "Since it looks like you two are going to be with us for a while, why don't we see about getting you guys cleaned up, some clothes, and something to eat."
"Still calling us guys, huh?" Xena pointed out.
"Habit. Xander, since you're the tallest one here, do you think you might have something that would fit Xena until we can go clothes shopping?"
"I'm sure I do, if it's only a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Be back in an hour or so."
"And Xander, you can drop me off at home. All the excitement's over. And I could use a nap."
"Okay. And I'll see the rest of you later. I'll bring supper."
"Great! And now, Xena, if you and Gabrielle will follow me, I'll show you where you can get cleaned up."
They followed her upstairs to the bathroom.
"This is the shower, and the knobs for hot and cold water. Here is the soap and shampoo. In this closet you'll find clean wash cloths and towels."
"I can guess what this is," Xena said, indicating the toilet.
"Yep. And this little handle will flush everything away. And this is a blow dryer."
Buffy turned it on to demonstrate.
"It's for drying your hair."
"Everything seems like magic," Gabrielle said.
"I suppose it does. Later on we'll explain how everything works. Now, I don't know how you want to do this. You two can take turns, or shower together, whichever you prefer."
"Gabrielle, why don't you go first, I want to talk to Buffy," Xena said.
"Sure. But what about my clothes?"
"Willow," Buffy said, "you're about the same size as Gabrielle, do you think you could
?"
"Not a problem."
"And one more thing," Buffy said to Gabrielle. "Be careful with the blow dryer around water. They don't mix, and you could get hurt pretty bad. Just make sure you're out of the shower and not standing in water."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Xena, why don't we go into my bedroom so we can talk."
Xena followed Buffy into the room and Buffy closed the door.
"So what's on your mind?"
"It's about Ares. You don't seem to be very worried about him and what he can do."
"I'm worried. But you need to understand something. Sunnydale sits squarely over a Hellmouth. Which means all kinds of evil, mystical forces are drawn here."
"Which could make Ares even stronger."
"It could. But just about every year that I've been a Slayer I've had to deal with some kind of world-ending apocalypse. And each time, the gang and I have managed to prevent it. And the way I see it you know Ares, I know the Hellmouth, and with you and me working together, with help from Gabrielle and Willow and the rest of them, there's no reason why we can't come out on top."
Chapter Eight
By the time Xena had finished her shower and went downstairs to join the others, Xander had was back with clothes for her, and three large pizzas. He had dropped Anya off at their apartment. She knew that eventually the subject of Halfrek would come up, and she wasn't in the mood for it.
"We figured that you guys might as well get used to some of our favorite foods. We have a plain cheese pizza, which Tara prefers. One with extra pepperoni, which is Xander's favorite, and one with everything on it for me and Dawn and Willow."
"Ow!" Gabrielle yelled out.
"You have to start out slow," Dawn advised her. "Otherwise the cheese will burn the roof of your mouth."
"Now you tell me."
"To drink we have water, milk, grape soda, and Pepsi. You can try all of them to see which you like the best. And after we finish here we'll see about buying a few outfits for both of you," Buffy said.
"Are they all like this?" Gabrielle asked. She was wearing blue jeans, as Xena was, but instead of a plain white T-shirt, Willow had given her a pink pull-over sweater with a yellow kitten embroidered on the front of it.
"We'll get you whatever you like, providing the price is right," Buffy replied. "I'm afraid I don't have the clothes you gave me. Giles took them. He said they were priceless, something about the wool/linen blend, and the weave, and the dye that was used, and something else."
"They were old anyway. I gave them to you because I didnt wear them any more. Who is Giles?"
"He's my Watcher. You'll meet him later on. But I'm not so sure how he'll react with you two here. He may be excited because of your 'historical value.' Or he'll be pissed about the whole Ares thing. Probably both."
"You were going to tell me how all these things work. It seems like all you do is flip one of those things on the wall and it gets light or dark, or you turn something or do nothing at all and magical things happen."
"You can thank electricity for that. Basically, we've managed to harness the power of lightning. We know how to make it, and how to send it through copper wires to just about everywhere, and just about everything runs on it," Buffy explained. "And that's why I told you to be careful with the blow dryer around water. I don't know if you've ever seen anyone hit by lightning, but it's about the same thing."
"I have," Xena said. "It's like they were cooked, burned to a crisp."
"Kind of like fire, I guess," Gabrielle surmised. "It can be your friend, or it can kill you."
"Just as a point of reference," Tara put in, "the word electricity come from the Greek word 'elektron', which we call amber. When you rub it, it gets a slight charge and attracts things like hair and fur to it."
"I've done that!" Gabrielle exclaimed. "Lila and I used to play with the cats on our farm when we were children."
"Lila's her younger sister," Xena explained.
"Anyone for dessert?" Xander broke in. "I thought I saw some ice cream in the freezer."
No one spoke much as they all polished off a half gallon of Rocky Road ice cream.
"Buffy, didn't you say you found twenty-five of my scrolls?"
"Not me, some archeologists I think. Willow?"
"Actually they were geologists. But after they found them, they turned them over to some museum with a department of ancient Greek writings, and they translated them. Oh, and by the way, we did find the note about how Buffy was sent back to us. But we had to read through them all before we did. You must have used a different kind of ink because it was really faded out."
"I did. Someone," and Gabrielle looked over at Xena, "spilled the ink pot, and I had to make my own using soot, water, and some animal fat."
"The rest of them were pretty easy to read, most of the time."
"Do you think I could read them? I'm curious to find out what other adventures I wrote about."
"Maybe that's not such a good idea," Buffy answered. "You never know what you'll do, or how you'll change things when you get back if you know ahead of time what's in store for you."
"I thought Anya said that no matter what you do you can't change things because that's the way it was supposed to happen anyway." Dawn said.
"And it was also Anya who suggested that Willow get the time traveling spell from D'Hoffryn. And we know how well THAT worked out."
"Oh. Yeah."
"I guess I could have also written down that it was Alara who cursed you and Xena," Gabrielle said.
"We know," Buffy answered.
"How?"
"Because it turns out that Anya knows her. Apparently she, somehow, managed to get to D'Hoffryn and convinced him to make her a Vengeance Demon. And since she didn't like Xena and me so much, she must have found someone to make a wish and we began trying to kill each other."
"It was an Amazon named Tana. She came to me right after you two started fighting and told us Alara tricked her into wishing you'd fight to the death. But I thought she had gotten her powers from the matriarch of her clan who died. I didn't know she became a demon."
"Is that why you went to Ares? Because he sent you back home?" Xena asked.
"Partly, and partly because when you introduced me to him he said he could do it, just wouldn't."
"Did he heal you up?" Dawn asked Xena. "The least he could have done was do Buffy, too."
"He didn't, although he could have," Gabrielle told her. "Instead he called on Aesclepius, the God of Healing to do it. And he was so mad at Ares for making him, so he just gave Buffy a dirty look, said he was going to complain to Zeus about it, and he left like all the gods do in a flash of light."
"So Ares just sent me back home, not knowing if I would live or die?" Buffy cut in. "Great guy!"
"I think if you were really dying, he would have done something," Xena countered. "Otherwise it wouldn't have been worth his time to do it."
"Well, that makes me feel a WHOLE lot better!"
Chapter Nine
"Now, before we leave, a couple of things -- first of all, you are going to see a lot of things you won't understand. This is a completely different world than the one you've come from. You've experienced some of it just here in the house," Buffy was explaining. "but there will be just too much for us to try to explain all at once. So the best advice I can give you is not to try to take in everything at once. Just watch the people. That's one thing that doesn't change."
"Does Giles have a set of encyclopedias at the magic shop?" Dawn asked. "Maybe that would help."
"I don't think so."
"What about taking them to the college library?" Willow exclaimed. "Lots of books there."
"Is that where my scrolls are?" Gabrielle asked.
"Just copies of them, but yeah. Buffy, think we could take them later?"
"I'm sure we'll have plenty of time for everything. But right now I guess we have to go. I hear Xander's car pulling up."
"No horses," Xena commented as they climbed into the car. "But I guess I shouldn't expect any."
"People still ride horses," Dawn said, "Mostly just for fun. But they also race them."
Xander turned on the radio and began going through the settings, pausing a few seconds at each station. "When you hear something you like," he said over his shoulder, "just let me know."
Nothing they heard appealed to either Xena or Gabrielle, so Xander turned it off.
"That's looks like fun!" Gabrielle exclaimed.
"What does?" Willow asked.
"That thing with two wheels that girl is riding.
"That's called a bicycle. They are fun, and good exercise. Maybe you can learn to ride one while you're here."
"They race them, too," Dawn added.
Xena looked out the window without speaking, watching everything, and understanding more than she expected to.
"We're here."
Xander opted to wait in the car as the six women went into Melinda's Fashion Boutique. Buffy showed Xena and Gabrielle how to find the sizes that would fit them, where the changing rooms were, and which clothes were on sale and which ones were too expensive.
Neither one cared for the jeans they had been wearing. Both chose knee length skirts. Xena opted for the black leather, Gabrielle liked the tan suede. Xena also picked out a black leather vest to go over a light blue denim shirt, and knee high black boots.
Gabrielle preferred a maroon and tan short sleeve blouse with brown ankle high boots.
But after trying them on, neither would wear a bra, complaining they were too tight and confining.
"Now I know how Argo must feel when I cinch up her saddle too tight," Xena said. But Buffy was able to talk them into wearing a sports bra.
An hour later they left the store, woke Xander up, and he drove them to the Magic Box.
As they filed in through the door, Anya, who had come to work at Giles' insistence, felt a touch of panic, and disappointment, knowing no one was there to buy anything.
"Giles," Buffy said. "I'd like you to meet Xena, and Gabrielle. This is Giles, my Watcher."
Giles mouth fell open.
Buffy turned to Xena. "Show him," she said to her. Xena reached into an oversized purse Buffy had given her and brought out her Chakram.
"And this is the Chakram we were wondering about," Buffy said.
Giles had a worried look on his face as he began cleaning his glasses. After a few seconds he looked up at Xena and Gabrielle.
"I'm -- very happy to meet you both," he almost stammered. "Buffy, could I have a word with you, in private?"
"Sure." And she headed through the door to her training room.
"Anya, will you see to our guests?" And he turned to follow Buffy without waiting for an answer.
Anya got an uncomfortable look on her face, and forced a smile.
"I see you have new clothes," she said to Xena and Gabrielle. "Very chic. You know we have some very nice items here that would make wonderful souvenirs to take back with you. I don't suppose Buffy gave you any money."
Giles barely shut the door behind him when he lit into Buffy.
"What were you thinking? Bringing them here! Didn't you learn anything about dealing with D'Hoffryn? How could you be so so irresponsible?"
"Relax, Giles, I didn't ask D'Hoffryn for anything. He had nothing to do with it."
"Then then how is they're here? I know it couldn't have been Willow."
"No, it wasn't Willow. We found another source, one with enough magic to bring them here. I thought you'd be excited about it. Think of everything you can learn from them. There's no telling what kind of insights and information they have about their world and events that we know nothing about!"
"Well, I suppose you do have a point. But I'm still concerned about this other source of magic. Are you sure there won't be any unpredictable or serious consequences? You know how magic works."
"There may be one or two little things, but nothing we can't handle."
"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me everything? Exactly what WAS this other source?"
"Can't we talk about this later? I'm sure they must think we're really being rude."
"No, Buffy we can't talk about it later. Were not leaving his room until you tell me exactly what you have done.
..
"Oh, look," Willow said, "here's a globe of the world. Now you can see where you came from and where we are now."
"The world is REALLY round." Gabrielle said. "I heard it was, but I never really thought much about it until Buffy said that there was more land beyond the Unexplored Sea to the east."
Willow spun the globe until Europe was in view, then she pointed to Greece.
"Okay, here's Greece, and here's Rome, and here is England. That's where Giles is from."
"Is that the same as Britannia?" Xena asked.
"The same. And this is the Atlantic Ocean. This is North America, and South America. And here's where we are Sunnydale, California."
"What's this ocean?"
Willow continued to spin the globe.
"This is the Pacific Ocean, and way over here is Japan, and here's China, and then we travel past India until we're back to Greece."
"Weren't you in Chin one time?" Gabrielle asked Xena.
She nodded. "When Borias and I were together."
Suddenly through the door they heard Giles yell, "You brought a god of WAR?! HERE?!"
Chapter Ten
Anya, Xander, Willow, Tara, Xena, and Gabrielle stood silent, feeling awkward while listening to the muffled argument coming through the door. No one could understand what was being said but they could imagine. Then the voices of Giles and Buffy lowered and nothing else could be heard.
"Well," Anya said, "that was uncomfortable."
No one responded
After a few seconds, she tried again. "You know, Gabrielle, Giles was very impressed with those filthy rags you sent Buffy home in. I would imagine that if you played your cards right, he would pay big bucks for the ones you and Xena had on earlier. Maybe a thousand dollars or more. And I would be willing to give you a nice little discount on some really fine gifts for the folks back home."
"Anya.
" Willow started to say when the door opened and Buffy and Giles came out.
Giles walked over to them, followed by Buffy. He looked at Xena, glanced at Gabrielle, then looked at Willow and Tara, and then back at Xena. It was like he didn't know quite what to say to whom first.
"I must apologize for being so direct, but we have a serious situation here, and I'm afraid that we can't afford extended pleasantries and welcoming niceties. Xena, I do want to welcome you here, but your presence, and the circumstances of your arrival has a definite aura of impending doom."
"Does he always talk like that?" Gabrielle whispered to Xander.
"Yeah. He's British," he whispered back.
"I was in Britannia. They don't talk like THAT!"
"They do now."
Giles looked at Willow and Tara again.
"And the fact that this war god has taken your powers only makes things that much worse."
"We're getting them back," Willow replied. "But it's taking time."
"Xena, I need to know everything there is to know about this god his strengths, his weaknesses, his state of mind, what he is capable of, his motivations, just whatever you can think of. And Willow, you and Tara need to do whatever you can to expedite the return of your powers whatever resources you can find, just whatever it will take. I suggest all of you begin immediately to formulate strategies and plans of attack to . . . ."
"Giles! Take a breath!" Buffy instructed. "Okay, Xena, he's right, we need to know everything you can remember about Ares. Willow, since Giles has next to nothing here about him, why don't you and Tara take Gabrielle to the college library and you guys research everything there has ever been written about him. Xander, if you will, how about you and Anya and Dawn look through the books we have here, just in case there IS something?"
"Hey!" Anya said. "Why is it you issue orders to US, but you ASK Xander?"
Buffy ignored her.
"Xander, you don't mind if they take you car, do you?"
"We'll be careful," Willow said as she put out her hand for his keys.
After Willow, Tara and Gabrielle left, Giles handed Xena a legal pad and a pencil.
"If you could write down everything you can think of, it would be very helpful. Even the most trivial thing could be important."
"Would you like it in Greek or Roman script?"
"You can't read or write English?"
"When we had Ares bring her, and Gabrielle, here, I specified they could speak English. I never even thought about them reading it."
"I can make out some words that look familiar," Xena told him. "And I've been able to sound out others. Like I know the red, eight-sided sign says 'stop.' I can read and write Greek pretty well, and can get by with the Roman, but Gabrielle is the one with the real skill when it comes to picking up languages."
"Well, my Greek is probably on par with your Latin," Giles said. "That's what we call the Roman language now -- Latin. And I'm most likely as fluent in the Latin as you are in Greek."
"What if she just tells us what she knows and we could take notes?" Dawn suggested.
"That sounds like a better idea," Xena agreed.
"Do we have any idea of where he might be now?" Giles asked after making himself a cup of tea and showing Xander where the books were that he, Anya and Dawn were to research.
"Sadly, no," Buffy replied. "In all the excitement of Gabrielle coming here we completely forgot about him. After she appeared, he quietly disappeared."
"Xena, if you were to guess, where would be the first place he would go?"
"Probably wherever there is a war going on."
"Well, THAT narrows it down," Buffy commented sarcastically. "Spin the globe, close your eyes, and pick a spot."
"There is that much conflict, everywhere?"
"Just about, except in the countries that have stable governments," Giles said.
"Then I guess he'd go where there were the most battles being fought, the most people were being killed, and where there was the most destruction." Xena said.
Buffy looked at Giles.
"The Middle East, you think?"
Giles nodded in agreement.
Chapter Eleven
As they rode to the UCSD library, Gabrielle insisted that Tara and Willow read every traffic sign, every billboard, and every store sign to her. She was determined to learn to read English. Most of the time she had no problems, but when they passed by Melinda's Fashion Boutique, she couldn't understand the pronunciation of "Boutique" until Tara explained the evolution of French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian from the Latin.
As impressed as Gabrielle was at the buildings of UCSD, she was struck speechless once they entered the library and she marveled at the overwhelming number of books.
"This must certainly put the legendary library of Alexandria to shame," she whispered in awe.
"You've been there?" Willow asked.
"No, but it is considered to be the apex of human learning. They say that all visitors to Alexandria are required to surrender their scrolls to be copied and then they are returned to their owners. The library there is the finest in the entire world. At least, that's what I've heard."
"We do have a lot of books here," Tara agreed. "But since the advent of the Internet, we have access to almost everything that was ever written, all over the world."
"What is the Internet?"
"It will be easier to show you rather than try to explain it. And at the same time we can pull up everything we want to know about Ares," Willow told her.
"Are my scrolls there, too?"
"Probably, although in this case it would be better to actually read the copies we have here."
"Can we do that first? I'm really curious about them."
"No reason we can't, but first you have to tell us which ones you have written as of now. I think Buffy was right, you shouldn't know ahead of time what's going to happen. You just never know how it will affect things for the future."
As Gabrielle recalled the adventures she had written about, Willow jotted them down. They then went to the section on Greek literature, and then to the bookshelf with ancient texts. And finally, the shelf they were looking for.
While Tara and Willow went through the copies of Gabrielle's scrolls to select only the ones they wanted, Gabrielle was looking through a book with samples of the writings of Homer, Aristotle, Socrates, and Herodotus, among others, in the original Greek.
"You know, my father's name is Herodotus," she told the two witches. "He was named after the philosopher. I remember once in a while he would relate one of his sayings whenever he thought it would fit the occasion. One of his favorites was 'The only good is knowledge, the only evil is ignorance.' I think that is why he made sure Lila, my sister, and I learned to read and write. Not many women of my village could do that."
"He must have been a very intelligent man," Willow replied.
"I guess he was, in his own way. But mostly he was just a simple farmer, trying to support a wife and two daughters. It was hard for him since he had no sons to help him, and Mother and Lila and I could only do so much. When I left with Xena it made things easier in a way, with one less mouth to feed. But there also was one less hand to help out around the farm."
Gabrielle sighed forlornly.
"I think that if Xena and I ever get back home, I'd like to spend more time with them."
"You don't have to worry about that." Willow reassured her. "From what you've written, youve seen Xena do some really amazing things. Well, I've seen Buffy do stuff just as amazing. I can't tell you how many times she's saved the world. I mean real apocalyptic, the-world-will-end-today type of things. And if the past several years has taught me anything at all, it's that with all of us working together with Buffy leading the charge, we always win. And with you and Xena with us, this problem with Ares, and getting you two back home, will be no different. You'll see."
"Okay, here they are," Tara said, with the nine copies of Gabrielle's scrolls. They were very similar to the actual scrolls one long sheet of heavy paper rolled around a cardboard core. Accompanying them were the English translations.
"The writing is kind of faint, isn't it?" Gabrielle commented as she looked at one.
"Actually, I think when they were copied, they increased the contrast to bring out the writing."
Gabrielle began reading the first one, where she first met Xena when she saved Gabrielle and the other young women from slavers.
"Just like it was yesterday," she muttered as she read it.
"I have an idea," Tara said. "Why don't we read the translations to you, and you can tell us just how accurate they are?"
The three of them went to a secluded section of the library and found a table farthest away from everyone and sat down. Before Gabrielle started, Willow bought three bottles of spring water from a vending machine for the three of them.
Gabrielle sat with the first copy in front of her as Willow began reading the translation. Once in a while she would stop Willow with a clarification or an explanation about a passage.
"Buffy told me I should add more detail to my stories. I see what she was talking about. I'll have to start doing that."
"We did notice that the later ones had more explanation about who was who, and why you or Xena did some of the things you did."
"Like what?"
"Nice try. Tara you want to read the next one?"
Tara began reading the second translation about a warlord and his son trying to take over a town, and the wild chariot ride as Xena and Gabrielle chased after them.
About the time they finished the sixth story, Willow's cell phone rang. It was Buffy checking to see what kind of information on Ares they had found.
"Still going through the web pages," she fibbed. "A lot of the same information. We'll probably be here for a few more hours. How about you guys? Anything useful?"
"Some. Xena's given us a lot of stuff we didn't know, and some we did, but we're still plugging away at it. Xander and Anya and Dawn haven't found much, but we really didn't expect them to."
In the background, Willow heard Dawn yell out, "You could have told us that before now!"
"I'll see you guys later at home. 'Bye." Buffy said as she killed the connection.
"That was Buffy. I guess we need to cut this short and do some real research. We can always come back later."
After putting away the scrolls, Willow and Tara showed Gabrielle how they could use Google to look up 'Ares, God of War'. The first page showed ten results of 750,000.
"It looks like we'll be here a while longer," Tara sighed.
Chapter Twelve
Buffy walked back to the round table where everyone was sitting.
"Did they find anything useful?" Xena asked.
"No. If I know Willow, she and Tara were letting Gabrielle go through her scrolls, and probably comparing the translations to the originals."
"Weren't they supposed to be researching? Like WE were?" Anya asked, irritation in her voice.
"Anya, do you really believe there has been anything new written about Ares in the past 2000 years? Xena is our best, and most reliable source for information on him."
"Then why send them there at all?"
"Because I knew Gabrielle wanted to see her scrolls. And because I knew they wanted something useful to do."
Anya slammed close the book in front of her.
"Xander, I'm ready to go home. Will you please call Willow and tell her to bring your car back?"
"I told her we'd see them at home," Buffy answered. "It's not that far. I think you could walk if you really wanted to. That's how we were planning to get home."
Anya got up from the table, exasperated and started toward the door.
"Xander, are you coming? Or do you want to sleep on the couch tonight?"
Xander gave Buffy and Xena a sheepish smile then got up himself.
"Coming, Honey Bunny."
"Very funny! If I have nightmares, you'll be the one to suffer for it."
"What was that all about?" Xena asked after they left.
"Anya has a fear of bunnies. Over a thousand years of being a Vengeance Demon, causing all kinds of unspeakable tortures on unfaithful and two-timing men, and she's scared of bunnies."
"I'm getting hungry," Dawn interjected. "Can we go now?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
After giving Giles everything they had written down about Ares, the three of them left the Magic Box.
"Are we having more of those pizza things?" Xena asked. "They were okay but not something I'd want every day."
"I'm sure we have something at home to cook," Buffy replied. "Willow usually does the cooking but since Im sure they'll be at the library for a few more hours, I suppose we'll just have to wing it."
"How about if we wing it over to the Double Meat Palace," Dawn suggested. "It's been a long time since we've eaten there."
"Well, if you want to, sure. Xena, you are about to experience the second most beloved fast food in the US of A the hamburger, or cheeseburger, if you'd prefer a slice of processed cheese food."
Xena hesitated just a fraction of a second. "Okay, I'm game. But sooner or later, I think I'd like a real meal."
An hour later they left the fast food restaurant.
"Well, what did you think?" Buffy asked.
"Not really sure. The meat had an odd texture, and flavor. But I liked the fried potato things. Didn't much care for the red sauce, though."
"That was the ketchup, it's made from tomatoes. I don't think you had them in Greece."
"They don't sound familiar. But I did like the yellow sauce."
"So we noticed," Dawn said. "But most people don't squirt it directly into their mouths. And it's called mustard, by the way."
"Well, whatever you call it, I'd like to take some with me when we go back."
"So, what do you want to do when we get home?" Dawn asked. "We could watch some TV. You might see something you like. There are some pretty good shows on tonight."
"Or, if you wanted to, you could go patrolling with me," Buffy suggested.
"I would, like to go patrolling. I've been curious about your Slaying skills, and vampires."
"And don't forget the demons. Sometimes we run across them also."
"Hey, Xena, I was wondering about something," Dawn said.
"What is it?"
"It's about when you and Buffy were fighting."
"Dawn . . . ." Buffy interrupted.
"I don't care. I want to hear it from her," Dawn interrupted back.
"Fine."
"What about us fighting?"
"I just was wondering who was winning when Ares knocked you two out?"
Xena thought for a moment.
"To tell you the truth, neither one of us. Both of us were losing. It wasn't like a real fight, it was more like a brawl. Neither one of us was in control so there was no restraint, and no strategy. It was just do whatever it took to kill the other one."
"So, what if you two fought without being possessed? Who would win?"
Xena thought about it for a few seconds.
"Hard to say. With weapons, I'd have to say me. I've been a warrior for more than 15 years, and I've probably used almost every weapon ever conceived of, with absolutely no mercy. But hand-to-hand, I think Buffy."
"Really? But she said you were really, really strong."
"I am. And not just for a woman. I can't think of any man I've fought against who was stronger than I am, any mortal, that is. But I sure don't have the strength of ten men!"
"See?" Buffy said. "I told you."
"Okay!" Dawn answered Buffy. Then to Xena she said, "That's what Buffy said, too. I guess you two are a lot alike."
Chapter Thirteen
When they got home, Xander's car wasn't there.
"I didn't think they'd be here yet." Buffy said. "And I really don't expect them for another few hours."
"How far away are they?"
"Five miles. About a ten or fifteen minute drive, depending on traffic."
"I don't know what that means."
"About half the time it took us to walk from the Magic Box."
"When are we leaving to patrol?"
"Not until after dark. We've still got time."
"Are you going to take your sword?" Dawn asked. "You sure could lop off some vamp heads with THAT!"
"I suppose I could," Xena answered.
"I think a sword might be a bit too conspicuous," Buffy said. "They're really inept, but even so, if a cop, a policeman, saw you carrying a weapon like that you'd have some real explaining to do."
"So, they dont know what you do?"
"No. People here in Sunnydale kind of ignore, overlook, turn a blind eye to the evil things running around. And it's just as well. Slayers are supposed to work in secrecy. And I'd just as soon it stayed that way."
"How can they just ignore it?"
"Because people don't want to admit there really ARE things that go bump in the night. I suppose they figure what they don't know can't hurt them. And it's my job to keep it that way."
Buffy and Xena went upstairs to Buffy's room where she kept her footlocker with her weapons and bottles of Holy Water. Buffy took out her favorite stake the one Kendra gave her, and had named Mr. Pointy. Xena looked over the other ones, picked them up, tested their heft and feel, and finally selected one that was heavier but not as pointed as Buffy's.
Buffy waited until 8 pm before she decided to leave. She called Willow to tell her they were leaving, and Willow she promised they'd be home by 8:30.
"So you do this every night?" Xena asked.
"Just about."
"And you never get tired of it?"
"Sometimes. But it's like a job you go to every day. It sometimes, well, most of the time, gets in the way of any real social life. But it's my Calling. I suppose it's just like you and Gabrielle, fighting the bad guys wherever you go rather than settling down in some village or on a farm or something."
"Where do you find the most vampires?"
"All over. I usually hit the cemeteries first because sometimes they dont appear until after they've been buried. Then I'll walk through town, searching the back alleys and where else it's dark and isolated."
"It's odd, but whenever you talked about this patrolling, I never realized how bright the night would be. I mean, you've got all these poles with lights on them, and the lights from the houses and shops. I was thinking you've be walking around with just moonlight to see by."
"It's funny, but it wasn't until I was with you and Gabrielle on the trail and then in the Amazon village that I realized just how dark the nights could be, even when the moon was up. I guess we both learned something."
The first cemetery was quiet, as was the second and the third. But in the fourth, they came across a female vampire chasing a jogger who should have known better to be running through a cemetery.
Xena watched as Buffy vaulted off a headstone and knocked her to the ground. As she jumped to her feet, Buffy was ready with her stake, and the she-vamp turned to dust.
"That's how it done," Buffy said. "Knock them off balance, look for the opening, and aim for the heart."
"What if you miss? Or if they're ready for you?"
"You just keep fighting until you find your spot. Once in a while I'll run across two of them, then it's not so easy, unless one of them runs away. Sometimes I chase after them, sometimes not."
"Mind if take the next one?"
"Help yourself. But remember, just because you hurt them doesn't mean they'll give up. As someone once told me to vamps we're just Happy Meals on feet, and they won't stop until one of you is dead. Also, they're strong, much stronger than the warlords you're used to fighting."
"I'll keep that in mind."
It was one hour and two cemeteries later before they came across another vampire. Xena looked at Buffy for conformation that it was a vamp.
"He's all yours."
As Xena rushed at him, he hesitated, unsure of her intentions, but his hunger was stronger than his uncertainty, and he ran to meet her. When they were about ten feet apart, Xena launched herself into the air, and proceeded to drive him back with a series of kicks to his face until he tripped over a low headstone. All the while she was filling the cemetery with the sounds of her 'Li-Li-Li-Li-Li' war cry.
The vampire scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he could away from her. Xena flipped her stake once in the air and caught it by its tip, then threw it at the vampire with such force that barely three inches of the foot long stake was protruding from his back, hitting him squarely in his heart.
And as she watched the vamp turn to dust, she was astonished to see the spike also turn to dust. And then she became aware of someone clapping.
When she turned to look at Buffy she saw a stranger standing next to her with blond hair and wearing a long black coat.
"Very well done," he said to her. "Very neatly done, indeed."
Xena noticed that he pronounced his words much like Giles did.
Ignoring him for a moment, Xena asked Buffy, "What happened to my stake?"
"Oh, that's something I guess I didn't think about mentioning. Whenever a vamp turns to dust, his clothes and anything sticking in or out of him does also. Of course, I didn't expect you to throw it."
"Well, it seemed the best course of action since I didn't like the thought of running blindly through the cemetery in the dark."
Xena look back at Spike.
"And you are?"
"Oh, sorry," Buffy said. "Xena this is Spike. Spike Xena."
"Nice to meet you," he said smoothly. "Always happy to meet a friend of the Slayer."
He then looked at Buffy.
"Another Slayer?"
"No. Just an amazing warrior woman."
"So that's what all the yelling was about. A war cry. I have to say it would certainly have unnerved me!"
"Well, thanks, I guess," Xena answered.
"Got some real power in those arms of yours," he continued as he felt her right bicep. "Hard as a rock."
Xena pulled her arm away, surprised at the coldness of his hand.
"Not to be insulting, but your hand's as cold as death."
"That's because he is, dead, that is." Buffy told her. "Spike's a vampire."
"Then shouldn't we be killing him?"
"No need to, Pet," Spike said with a smarmy grin on his face. "I'm one of the good guys!"
Xena looked back at Buffy, even more confused.
"Actually, he can't hurt humans because one of our government's secret organizations put a thing in his head to keep him from killing or feeding on people. But he can kill other vamps and demons, so we keep him around. Although, there are times when I wonder why."
"Because, next to you, I'm the strongest one of you here when it comes to fighting those nasty, evil forces of darkness! That's why."
"Maybe the third strongest now," Buffy retorted. "She's almost as strong as I am. And I'll bet she's stronger than you are."
Spike looked Xena up and down, wondering, trying to decide, if he wanted to test that theory, somehow.
"How about if we call it a night?" Buffy said. "It's getting late, and we still have that Ares thing to figure out."
"Sure, I could use some sleep."
"What Ares thing?" Spike asked.
Buffy shook her head in resignation. She knew there would be no way to get rid of Spike now that he knew they had a problem. And who knows? Maybe he could be some help out somehow if things got ugly.
"Okay, here's the sitch. . . . "
Chapter Fourteen
When Xena and Buffy got home a little after midnight, with Spike still tagging along. But at the last minute he decided he wasn't up for a house full of women and headed back to his crypt. He promised he'd think about their problem and would come up with the perfect solution.
Dawn was in Buffy's bedroom so Xena and Gabrielle could have her bed. But Gabrielle had fallen asleep on the living room sofa in front of the TV watching an infomercial about the latest and greatest gadget to cook pot roasts, chicken and spare ribs.
Willow and Tara were in the kitchen.
"So how was the Slaying? Lots of vamps biting the dust?" Willow asked.
"Only two. I dusted one and Xena got one. Kind of a slow night."
"How does it feel being a Slayer?" Tara asked Xena.
"Different. I expected more of a fight, but it was okay."
"She threw her stake at him, right through the heart," Buffy elaborated. "Of course the stake dusted right along with the vamp. Good thing they're cheap."
"We have some news," Tara said. "Maybe good news."
"Learn something new about Ares?"
"Yes and no," Willow said. "I can't believe how stupid I've been."
"It wasn't your fault, not really," Buffy said. "He fooled all of us."
"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about our powers. I know how to get them back!"
"How?"
Willow grinned at Tara, then said, "Hecate!"
"Who?" Buffy asked.
"Hecate. She's kind of like the patron saint of witches. Don't you remember -- Amy prayed to her when we were about to be burned at the stake and she was changed into a rat? Of course when I tried to get her to de-rat Amy she ignored me. But the point is, this time she just CAN'T refuse to give Tara and me back our powers!"
"I'm lost here, Will. Why can't she?"
"Well, there is just SO much myth surrounding the gods, but one of the more credible accounts is that she was one of the original Titans. But when the Olympian gods fought against them, she sided with the Olympians. So after their victory over the Titans, she became one of Zeus' favorites. Not only that, but she had this huge following in Thrace, the very place Ares had his strongest support. And on top of all that the willow tree is sacred to Hecate. And I'M a Willow!"
"Sounds like you've done your homework. Xena, do you know anything about her?"
"Very little. The only gods I've ever had any real dealings with were Ares and Aphrodite."
"So you really think she'll restore your and Tara's powers?"
"I don't see how she can refuse! Especially since Ares was the one who took them from us."
"So what do you need? Magic crystals? Sacred herbs? Incense? A dark incantation or two?"
"That's the best part. We only need to prepare a meal as an offering someplace where three roads meet, after dark, when the waning moon is visible."
"Do you know someplace like that?" Tara asked.
"Well, not off hand. But any good road map should show us where they are."
"What kind of food are you talking about?" Buffy was starting to believe Willow was on to something.
"It doesn't really matter just as long as lamb, honey, and red wine are included. And since the full moon was a couple of days ago, then we have almost two weeks before the new moon plenty of time to get everything ready."
"You don't seem to be in much of a hurry."
"I just want to make sure we do this right. I don't imagine we'll get a second chance. These gods can be v-e-r-y temperamental, as I'm sure Xena knows."
"But didn't you say you prayed to Hecate once before? And she ignored you?" Xena asked.
"Yeah she did. But this time I'm hoping will be different."
"Why do you think she listened to Amy but not you?" Buffy asked.
"The only reason I can think of is that Amy had made offerings to her before. Maybe even a sacrifice or two."
"Buffy, I guess you were right," Xena commented.
"I was? About what?"
"You said that with your friends helping us, there's no reason why we can't come out on top against Ares. And if they are half as capable as Willow seems to be, then I may have been worrying for no reason."
"Wow! Thank you, Xena. I appreciate the vote of confidence. But there's still the small chance that Hecate will refuse our request."
"Somehow I don't think she will. You see, Ares isn't very popular with the other gods. He's arrogant, conceited, and self-serving. And he's crossed swords with almost all of them at one time or another, including Zeus."
"They actually fought? With swords?" Willow asked.
"I think that was just a figure of speech, Will," Buffy told her. "I think she means he pretty much does what he darn well pleases, and to heck with what anyone else thinks."
"She's exactly right," Xena agreed. "That describes Ares perfectly."
"So I guess tomorrow we'll hit the grocery store, get whatever you want to fix for the meal, and decide where you want to make the offering," Buffy suggested. "And we need to let Giles know, just so he won't worry so much."
After some girl talk about mostly nothing, they all decided to turn in and get a fresh start the next morning.
Xena covered Gabrielle with a light blanket and let her stay on the sofa. Buffy climbed into her own bed with Dawn, and Willow and Tara got into theirs.
Only Xena fell asleep quickly. Buffy was still worrying about what Ares might be up to.
And Tara and Willow were preoccupied with each other, for a while.
Chapter Fifteen
"Are you sure you have everything?" Buffy asked. "And you're sure you don't want me to come with?"
"Thanks, but I think it would be better if it was just Tara and me."
"Are you sure you can find the intersection?"
"Xander wrote down specific instructions, and Tara has the road map. We should be there no later than 12:30. Don't worry Buffy, we'll be fine."
"I can't help it. After everything we've gone through with Ares, and D'Hoffryn, I'm just concerned about this Hecate."
"W- we'll be okay," Tara assured her. "All we're going to do is ask for our powers to be restored to us. The worst that can happen is she'll say no."
"Okay, then. We'll see you when you get back. Xena, Gabrielle and I will be patrolling, so when you get back home, call us. I'll have my cell phone with me."
Buffy gave Willow and Tara a quick hug, then watched as they left the house with the picnic basket full of food. She waved as they drove off in Xander's car, then went back inside.
It was barely past eleven, and time to hit the cemeteries. Buffy, Xena and Gabrielle got their stakes, and a few bottles of Holy Water. Xena put her Chakram into the oversized purse, just in case.
After last-minute instructions to Dawn about not following them, and getting to bed soon, the three vampire slayers left.
Willow and Tara arrived at the intersection of three roads at 12:45. It was a dark, two lane road they were on, which met an old dirt road and another paved one. Each coming from a different direction so none of them were a continuation of the other.
It took only fifteen minutes to set everything up. Right at the junction they put down a blanket, then arranged the food in manner they hope would be pleasing to Hecate. They brought braised lamb, a bottle of red wine, and a jar of wild flower honey. And to be on the safe side, they also included a dozen raw eggs, lavender, dandelion, almonds, and a willow branch, all sacred to Hecate.
As soon as they were satisfied, Willow and Tara turned away from the setting and walked a short distance away. Then looking up to the crescent moon and raising their arms over their heads toward the moon, the two witches began their chanting in unison.
"Hear us, Oh Hecate, Protector of Witches, Goddess of Magick, heed our call. Listen to our prayers. We beseech thee, humbly requesting you restore the powers taken from us by the war god Ares. We come to you in supplication and helplessness."
Willow and Tara looked at each other, but dared not turn around. They waited but nothing seemed to be happening.
"Maybe we should say it again," Tara suggested, whispering.
"Okay," Willow whispered back to her.
"Hear us, Oh Hecate, Protector of Witches, Goddess of Magick . . . ."
Suddenly a wind swirled around them, filling their eyes with sand. Then a booming, feminine voice from behind them, and around them, said, "I hear your cries. What is this accusation you make? Ares is no more. He has long since faded into eternity. I do not take kindly to falsehoods and fabrications made in my name!"
"Never would I be so irresponsible and so unwise to lie to the Goddess of Wicca," Willow said with a tremble in her voice. "You have but to look into our hearts to see I speak the truth."
Willow barely had time to draw a single breath when Hecate spoke again.
"How stupid, how reckless you mortals are! Did you really think you could control a GOD? One who draws power from very ones who seek to control him? How arrogant and pompous you all are!
Can you give me even one reason why should I honor this request?"
"He needs to be contained, and maybe sent back to the god-world?"
There was a only silence. The wind had died down, leaving only the sound of Willow's and Tara's anxious breathing to break the stillness.
Hecate spoke again, but with less anger.
"Ares does not need to be in the world. There is too much death and destruction for a god of war to be allowed to have his way. I have made my decision. I will return your powers, and more. Separately, you will have the abilities taken from you by Ares. However, you will need more to return him to this wasteland of dying gods which you WILL DO!!"
"Yes, Oh Goddess, we will do as you command!"
"In order to do this, you will be required to combine your separate powers into one coherent force of magick. You will do this by physical contact with each other. Plus, you will need another. Someone with the strength of potential. A guiding force to channel your energies to accomplish this deed."
"Buffy!" Willow shouted out. "She's the strongest one I know."
"No."
"No?"
"The vampire slayer is not the one. Her awareness is too fragmented. You will need the one called Dawn."
"Dawny?"
"There is residual energy within her. Energy derived from another, more powerful god than even we Olympians."
"Glory! Dawn was the key back to her hell dimension!"
There was another gust of wind, and then silence again. When they looked around at their offerings, nothing had been touched.
"What should we do?" Tara asked. "Are our powers back?
"I think we're supposed to eat some of the food and then they'll be restored."
"I don't want to eat any raw eggs."
"Then we'll eat what we can and then take the rest back home."
Chapter Sixteen
"So, explain to me about this Holy Water," Gabrielle said to Buffy as they left the house.
"Not much to explain. The water has been blessed by a priest and somehow that gives it the power to burn the crap out of vampires. Kind of how boiling water burns normal people."
"That means that despite all your talk before about how gods didn't really exist and it was all in people's heads, you believe there really IS something," Xena reminded her.
"Well, I guess I do. It's just that there's no actual physical evidence. . . ."
"Except Ares," Xena interrupted.
"Okay. You got me. I will admit there are supernatural beings with extraordinary powers. But the god we're talking about is the supposed creator of the entire universe, and by extrapolation, creator of all dimensional universes."
"Or," Gabrielle said, "maybe there's just one god for each universe."
"Can't rule anything out, I suppose. The hell-dimension Glory came from was ruled by her and two other gods until she got so powerful, and so evil, there was a war, she lost, and they sent her here."
"So what happened?"
Before Buffy could answer, in one smooth move, Xena brought out her Chakram, sailed it past them, and decapitated a vampire who was about to feed on a young man. His girlfriend was running away, screaming for the police to save them from the "mugger."
"Nice shot!" Buffy said, impressed at Xena's control of the circular weapon, removing the vamp's head only inches away from his victim, who started running in the same direction as his girlfriend, anxious to get away.
Xena snagged the Chakram out of the air as it flew back to her. She started to put it back into the purse, then held it out to Buffy.
"Want to try it out?"
"Sure! I thought you'd never ask. So what do I do?"
"Look for a target, concentrate, then let it fly. And you won't need as much strength as you think you will."
Buffy examined it in the light of a streetlamp.
"This is pretty damn sharp. How do I catch it without cutting my fingers off?"
"Don't worry. You won't. I thought that the first time I threw it, but catching it without getting cut is natural. Don't try too hard to catch it, just let it happen."
Buffy nodded, then looked around for something to try it out on. About fifty yards away a lone, leafless branch was sticking out from a dying tree. Then taking a breath, she passed her right arm across her chest, then threw the Chakram with a quick, snapping motion.
The Chakram flew straight toward the tree, singing like a banshee.
Buffy's aim was true, and as the branch fell to the ground, the weapon made a large circular path in the sky and headed back to her. And with one smooth motion, she caught it as her arm also made a circle.
"My GOD, this is an amazing weapon! What I wouldn't give for something like this. It would make my job SO much easier!"
Xena smiled at her excitement.
"I know what you mean. I feel it every time I throw it. But as far as I know it's the only one there is, so, sorry."
"Well, I guess we should go. Still more vamps out there. Some weapon, eh, Gabrielle?"
"Yeah. Maybe one day I'll try it."
"You've never thrown it? Ever?"
"Never. It's really not my kind of weapon. I prefer the non-lethal ones, like my Amazon battle staff."
"She's really good with it," Xena put in. "I hate to have to fight her using them."
The next two hours passed with a total of six more vampires turned to dust. Gabrielle managed to kill three of them, with help from Buffy on two of them, and a bottle of Holy water on the third. Xena dusted one more and Buffy got the last two.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to head back home. It's been along day."
"Sounds good to me," Gabrielle answered. "I don't have the stamina you two do. The excitement is starting to wear off, and I could use some sleep."
On the way back Buffy borrowed the Chakram once more and dusted a vamp who had seen them and decided retreat, running away, was the better strategy.
When they got back to Buffy's house, Xander's car was parked in the driveway.
"Looks like they're back," Buffy said. "I wonder why Willow didn't call me like she said she would."
"Maybe it didnt work, and she wasn't in the mood to talk about it."
"Maybe. I guess we'll find out soon enough."
They found Willow and Tara, and Dawn, in the kitchen, the remains of the food they had packed spread out on the counter. Most of the wine was gone, consumed by the three of them, Dawn included. All three were tipsy.
"What' the hell's going on?" Buffy demanded. "There had better be a damn good explanation why you're letting my under-aged sister get drunk!"
"We're BACK!" Willow sang.
And to demonstrate, she casually waved one hand and the bottle of wine was magically filled again.
"Okay, it worked. I'm happy for you. And it will certainly ease Giles' mind, but does your celebrating have to include getting Dawn drunk?"
"She hasn't had that much, besides she's a part of it. We need her to help us get rid of Ares. And since eating all this food was part of restoring our powers, we just figured she should be included."
"Wait a minute, you're not making any sense. Dawn has to help you?"
"Yes I do!" Dawn said smugly, slightly slurring her words. "Im the focus, guider, channel person."
Buffy took an exasperated breath.
"Will, what's going on? I don't understand - - anything!"
"It's very simple. Hecate restored our powers to us. But separately we're not strong enough to send Ares back, but together we are. BUT we need Dawn to help us focus and concentrate our magick to do it."
"Why Dawn?"
"Because she still has some of that green power thingy stuff in her that was left over when she was Glory's key. And we need it."
Buffy was silent for a few seconds.
"Okay, Dawn, to bed with you NOW! Willow, you and Tara will clean up this kitchen and then I want you to get to bed also. It's been a long day, and we all need some sleep because come tomorrow, Ares goes back to his dead-god world."
Chapter Seventeen
The next morning Buffy let everyone sleep until eight o'clock. She, however was up just after daybreak. She found Xena sitting on the steps of the back porch. She had put on her warrior clothes and armor, and was honing the edge of her sword.
"Planning on going somewhere?" Buffy asked her.
"Back home. After we get rid of Ares, Gabrielle and I should go."
"You don't have to. Not right away. We'd love to have you and Gabrielle visit a little longer."
"I think we need to get back to our own time."
"It's not because of what happened in the Amazon village, is it?"
"No, not at all."
"Or because we dragged you guys here against your will? Are you mad about that?"
Xena smiled at her.
"I'm not angry. In fact, I kind of glad you did. This may sound strange, but it makes me appreciate what we have back home."
"Really?"
"Buffy, there are things here I never could have imagined, not in my wildest dreams. Wonderful, fantastic things. But there are also things here so horrific, so frightening, not even Tartarus could match them. This just isn't my world, nor Gabrielle's."
"Does she want to leave?"
Xena was silent for a few seconds.
"She hasn't said so, not exactly. I know she's fascinated with everything here. But I know her. And I know that eventually the novelty will wear off. So, I think we should go while she still has that wonder in her heart."
"Makes sense."
Buffy paused for a second or two, then said, "But we'll be parting as friends, right?"
Xena put out her hand to her.
"Friends, warriors, and sister vampire slayers."
By ten o'clock everyone had gathered at the Magic Box. They decided that the best place to deal with Ares was in the training room in the back. There would be little damage to anything valuable if Ares decided to put up a fight.
"We have two ways we can do this," Buffy said. "Xena can call for him, or Willow and Tara and Dawn can summon him magically. I think if Xena can get him here it would lessen his suspicion. But if it doesn't work that way, then we'll have to go with Plan B."
"Do you think he will still come when you call?" Giles asked Xena.
"I don't know. As far away as he may be, it might be too far. All I can do is try."
"How is this going to work?" Gabrielle asked. She, too, was wearing the clothes she had on when she arrived.
"Tara and Dawn and I will join hands making a circle," Willow explained. "Ares won't actually have to be inside the circle, but if somehow we can get him there, it should make sending him back a little easier."
"And you know what to say? What spell to use?" Anya asked.
"Pretty much. Tara and Dawn and I have been testing our powers together. And the magick we have -- our strength is amazing. If we had wanted to we could have gone back there easy, so sending Ares should be a snap."
"Even if he fights you? He may not want to go, you know," Buffy said.
"I'm confident we can. Hecate gave us enough power to do this. It's just a matter of concentration."
"Dawn, how about it? Feeling concentrate-y?"
Dawn nodded, not wanting to speak, in case her voice gave away the fact that she was scared to death.
"Then let's rock and roll. Xena?"
Willow, Tara and Dawn took each other's hands to form the circle.
"Ares! A-R-E-S!" Xena yelled out.
They waited a half a minute, then she yelled out again.
After another minute had gone by and there was no Ares, Buffy said, "Looks like we do this the hard way."
"Dawny," Willow said, "concentrate on Ares. You know what he looks like. Just focus on his face."
Chapter Eighteen
Dawn took a deep breath, then suddenly Ares appeared, but several feet away from everyone.
"You are GOOD!" Xander exclaimed.
"But I didn't DO anything yet!"
"Has everyone in this world gone CRAZY?" Ares said unexpectedly.
"What?" Buffy asked first.
"Have you all gone insane?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Doesn't ANYONE fight wars honorably any more? All I've seen is these religious fanatics blowing themselves up right in the middle of innocent women and children. Whatever happened to meeting on the field of battle, one army against the other and fighting until one is victorious and one is defeated? Don't they realize there are rules of war?"
"This is a different world, now," Giles answered quietly. "There is but one rule -- kill as many innocents as possible to maximize the terror and bloodshed."
"That isn't war! It's -- I don't know what it is!"
"How can you say something like that?" Xena asked. "You know very well your armies sacked, pillaged and destroyed villages full of innocent people. How many of THEM died at the hands of your soldiers?"
"Sure, villages were attacked, and there were people killed or enslaved. But it was to get rid of potential enemy soldiers, or for supplies, or to sell the slaves to get money to buy more weapons. But there always was a purpose, a reason for the brutality. What I've seen has nothing to do with war!"
"Like he said," Xena went on. "This is a different world, with different rules. And there's nothing any of us can do about it."
Ares shook his head and took a tired breath. It was then that everyone noticed how weary he looked. It wasn't that he looked old, like he did when he first came to Sunnydale, but a toll had been taken.
"This ISN'T what I expected. And it isn't the world I want to live in."
"What are you saying?" Xena asked.
"I'd rather go back to my Great Hall and just fade away than to be a god of war in this idiotic world."
"That can be arranged. Buffy?" Xena asked.
"Sure. I think Willow and Tara and Dawn have the power to send you back."
"They won't need much, not with me helping them."
Willow took Tara's and Dawn's hands and invited Ares to step inside. Ares complied, then Tara took Dawn's hand to complete the circle.
"Just one more thing before I go."
"What?"
"Xena, you ARE looking good. Just like I remembered."
Xena started to answer but thought better of it, she didn't want to take a chance he might think of a reason to stay. She just smiled and nodded her head.
"Okay, girls, let's do it."
The three of them closed their eyes and seconds later Ares simply disappeared.
"That was EASY!" Dawn said. "We'll have to do that again sometime."
"How about now?" Xena asked her.
"Now?" Buffy asked.
"I think now is the best time."
"Gabrielle? Are you ready to go, too?"
"Yes, and no. There is so much I want to do. And so much I haven't done, like learning to ride that bicycle. But Xena's right -- it's time."
"You know, now that the three of us have this magick connection, there's no reason why we can't visit each other from time to time." Willow said. "We can visit you. And you two can come back here sometime."
"Maybe we can. But I think it would be better if we made specific plans rather than just jumping back and forth through time with no warning," Xena suggested.
"She's right," Buffy agreed. "No one likes surprises like that."
There was a round of hugs and goodbyes and final words, then Willow, Tara and Dawn encircled Xena and Gabrielle.
"If you two will think about the same place, we can read your thoughts and can send you both right back there."
"How about the campsite where we left Argo?" Gabrielle said. "That's where our things are."
"Sound good to me," Xena answered.
Ten seconds later the circle of arms was empty.
"See?" Buffy said to Giles. "You were worried all for nothing."
"How long do you think we were gone?"
"Probably not more than a heartbeat or two -- Argo's still here. Damn!"
"What?"
"Our blankets are still at Buffy's."
"I'm sure she'll put them up for us." Gabrielle reassured her.
"And I forgot to bring back that yellow sauce. I really liked that stuff."
"We'll make a list so the next time we go we'll remember to bring back everything we like."
"You should start a list on one of your scrolls. And then when they will find it, they will have everything ready for us on our next visit."
The End